Vanskerries
__NOEDITSECTION__ “I still have nightmares about those Vanskerries and what they did." - Kaverra Introduction The Vanskerries are a group of bandits that roam the Fierdsvain coast, akin to Native's sea raiders. They can be seen frequently on the east and northeast of Pendor, on small parties that will cause trouble to Villagers and sometimes Caravans. When General Oasar came to Pendor, under the Baccus Empire banner he brought with him several bands of mercenaries, among them were the Vanskerry, raiders from far off lands, so skilled at sailing that they could reach any coast, storm it and leave before any reaction was possible. They came because of his promises of plunder. But when the Baccus Empire collapsed, General Oasar now isolated canceled the deal he made with the Vanskerry's Jarls. However they continued their raiding, finding the weakened Pendor the perfect target. Fearing for their lands and wealth a delegation of merchants from the Merchant Princes of the Free Cities offered to let them settle their rich lands in exchange for protection. This caused a split among them - some now saw the opportunity to stay in this new lands, this ones would made a deal with the Merchant Princes forming the modern The Federation of Free Cities of the Fierdsvain. But the other Jarls felt double betrayed, first by Oasar and last by their cousins which decided to stay and start to adopt a new way of life which was against the Vanskerry warrior code. They went back to their homelands to bring the news of their cousin's betrayal, and to spread tales of the riches in Pendor that could be easily taken. This caused much uproar in the Vanskerry's lands, several Jarls and even bandits start to muster their own warbands and sailed to Pendor, they came in fast ships famous by their ability to navigate even in low water regions which allowed them to plunder almost at will. A typical warband has between 20-30 men strong, they might lack the disciple being often drunk, but each Vanskerry is warrior at in heart and experience, lured by the desire of gold and slaves. They use medium armor, mostly mail along with their famous round shields and large axes. Sometimes a more powerful Jarl will sail to Pendor not with a single ship, but with a large fleet at his back, these large bands are truly armies which pose a severe threat to the Fierdsvain's lords.The Vanskerries are a group of bandits that roam the Fierdsvain coast, akin to Native's sea raiders. Their faction color is teal. Spawns Vanskerries are essentially glorified bandits; however, they are quite glorified. They rarely have weak armor, they use large shields and they almost always pack javelins or throwing axes, which can do a lot of damage to man and horse alike. While the base-tier Vanskerry Marauders and second-tier Vanskerry Raiders are not very well-trained, they upgrade into the quite dangerous Vanskerry Warrior, which is quite capable of holding the line against even some of the top-tier infantry in Pendor. All three of these units may be recruited, either from rescued prisoner stacks or hired as Marauders in taverns and then upgraded. You will see two other types of Vanskerry units as well: Vanskerry Jarls and Queen Agnus Freebooters, but these are both considered elite units and have no upgrade trees. Jarls can be sometimes obtained via asking Kaverra for troops each week, and Freebooters can be sometimes recieved by gambling with Ramun the Slave Trader. Freebooters can also be rescued from prisoner trains, as they are under level 40. Freebooters can be mounted in battle; though this is not guaranteed, it does give them an extra degree of usefulness as medium shock cavalry. Armies Unlike other bandits, Vanskerries may on occasion form an army. Such an army usually numbers 300-700 men: * 1-3 Hero Adventurers * 5-20 Adventurers (was 5-20 before 3.9.0) * 4-48 Vanskerry Jarls (was 20-50 before 3.9.0) * 40-300 Vanskerry Warriors (was 50-200 before 3.9.0) * 60-160 Mercenary Horsemen (was 50-150 before 3.9.0) * 100-500 Vanskerry Raiders (was 150-300 before 3.9.0) Defeating this army will always reward the player with 1 Various Loot + either 1 Small Pouch of Diamonds OR 1 Gold Bar (50% chance each) And an outlawed company, Vanskerry Leiesoldat, that is made of: * 4-8 Vanskerry Jarl * 100-200 Vanskerry Marauders They also have raiding parties, these are by far the most common, these are made of: * 0-1 Vanskerry Jarls * 1-12 Vanskerry Warriors * 2-14 Vanskerry Raiders (was 5-26 before 3.9.0) * 2-10 Queen Agnus Freebooters (was 0-0 before 3.9.0) * 4-16 Vanskerry Marauders (was 0-0 before 3.9.0) * 0-1 Farmer (as prisoner), sometimes it is replaced for 2 Fierdsvain Ladies in waiting They don't have any unique Spawn. Relations Vanskerries are one of the major Hateful factions, meaning they are against every single other faction (both major and minor ones) and against all Knighthood Orders. They are only neutral with Rebel Peasants and Inquisition, and have no allies. Companions Kaverra is linked to this faction, as her past was ruined by a raid of Vanskerries, as they killed her parents, raided her village and raped her. But one night, she waited until her captors got drunk, tied them up and gelded all of them, leaving them tied up to bleed to death, and she is vengeful and still wants more. This relation causes Kaverra to recruit and trick vanskerries if the player asks her, however, there is a small chance that on nights, she can't contain her anger and murders a random Vanskerry troop in your party. To know more about this feature, go to her page. Ironically, she can recruit Vanskerries every week if player asks her to. Trivia * Sigismund talking about his past: "Our band learned how to fight through experience, and soon enough, we started winning. Our loot armed and equipped us right, and we kept things downright safe over a fair area for a couple of years. They started calling me the 'Hero of Madigan' as our fame spread. Anyway, our success along the coast caught the attention of a powerful Vanskerry Jarl, who decided to take us down. My men were mowed down like hay. My brave Claire refused to give up, and challenged the Jarl to single combat. He killed my love in less than ten minutes, despite the fierce fight she put up." * Sigismund claims to the player that he is specialized on fighting vanskerries, mystmountains and bandits * Oswald the Fleur had encounter them on several occasions, with all resulting on bad outcomes for the Vanskerries "if rumor does not lie, Oswald de Fleur just defeated a group of Vanskerry Raiders three times the size of his own company.", so many now try to avoid him "even the Vanskerry Raiders prefer to avoid that adventurer, Oswald de Fleur. His shield is covered in the flayed skin of a Vanskerry Jarl, I've heard." * "Despite the fact that the Ironsword Company is largely composed of Vanskerry Raiders, the Lords all hire him to escort their wives when they travel. He's said to faithfully honor his oath to protect them." - Fierdsvain rumors * "He was informed that even the Vanskerry Raiders run from Syla Uzas, because he has killed so many of their numbers." - Syla and his infamous reputation over Pendor Category:Vanskerry Category:Minor Factions Category:Troop trees